Comments Off on Gorgeous live/work home in Melbourne is built with recycled materials

Austin Maynard Architects completed their latest project, a 12-month build that’s stunning, playful, and eco-friendly. Commissioned by a couple that works from home, the Kiah House is a live/work extension in North Fitzroy, Melbourne that comprises a master bedroom and a treehouse-like office stacked on top. The beautiful home draws inspiration from Japanese and Buddhist influences to create a modern sanctuary that embraces outdoor living and contemporary art. The Kiah House was constructed as an extension to an original 1927 Victorian-era house and to meet the clients’ desires for “a sanctuary” with a “strong and positive vibe.” The original weatherboard home was renovated with a new spacious kitchen and dining area that spills out to an outdoor deck. Two bedrooms, a lounge, and a bathroom are also located in the original cottage. The master bedroom en suite is placed in the extension’s ground floor and is screened with operable louvers from street view. “At Kiah House we were charged with the task of creating spaces, both private and shared, that spill out into the garden and yet adaptable enough to create solitude and privacy when needed,” wrote the architects. “The master bedroom ‘haven’ has a dedicated Buddhist prayer space and opens up to the garden and ponds via sliding double-glazed glass panels blurring the lines between inside and outside. The towering lemon scented gum tree is enclosed by a small deck area, a place for the owners to “sit and meditate”.” The bedroom roof is also covered in plants and edible vegetation that can be seen from the second-story office, which also overlooks the gum tree canopy. A colorful mural called ‘Awakened Flow’ by artist Seb Humphreys of Order 55 was painted on the office’s spotted gum cladding. Related: Swanky laneway house in Melbourne is built from recycled red brick The renovation of the home and the addition of an extension were completed with sustainability in mind. Timber salvaged and recycled from the CSR sugar mills in nearby Yarraville is used throughout the kitchen, while the red clay bricks that line the bathroom were all reclaimed and hand-cleaned from demolition sites around Victoria. The home is optimized for natural light, passive solar gain, and natural ventilation. All windows are double-glazed and high performance insulation is used throughout. Collected roof water is reused for irrigation and to flush toilets. A solar array has also been installed on the roof. + Austin Maynard Architects

High above Silicon Valley sits a striking home with a two-story volume clad in blackened cedar. Schwartz and Architecture designed the residence, named Shou Sugi Ban House after the traditional Japanese method used to burn the wood to wrap it in a layer of carbon highly resistant to water, fire, and mold. The charred timber volume is an extension to an existing one-story home, the interior of which was also substantially remodeled by the architects. Located on the crest of a hill in Los Gatos, California, Shou Sugi Ban House is a 4,350-square-foot renovation and expansion project that takes inspiration from the surrounding landscape, including the texture and look of boulders, bark, and leaves. “Enlarging an existing home that has an already strong and complete architectural character can be challenging,” wrote the architects. “Here, we anchor the existing one-story home with a new two-story independent volume, using it both as punctuation mark and counterpoint to the existing composition. We clad the addition in traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban burnt cedar siding both to anchor home with site and to create the visual weight necessary to anchor the existing exuberantly-roofed horizontal building.” Related: Stunning Lake Michigan home is built from dying ash reclaimed onsite In contrast to the extension’s dark facade, the airy interior features whitewashed walls with natural textures applied throughout. A family room occupies the lower level while a bedroom is placed upstairs. Views of the outdoors are framed through large full-height glazing making it feel as if the interior is open to the outdoors. A particularly beautiful feature of the new extension is the minimalist floating staircase made of painted-steel and cantilevered walnut treads that the architects liken to leaves growing on a branch. + Schwartz and Architecture Images via Matthew Millman

Comments Off on Artists are turning the U.S.-Mexico border fence into the worlds longest peace-themed mural

As the Trump administration pushes forward with plans to build a border wall , American and Mexican artists are working to paint a mile-long mural on the border fence celebrating peace and unity. Mexican-born, American-educated artist Enrique Chiu is leading a bi-national effort to turn the fence into a work of art which spreads a message of hope to those crossing the border. This December, Chiu launched The Mural of Brotherhood, enlisting over than 2,600 volunteers to paint uplifting messages on the Mexico-facing side of the U.S.-owned fence. The entire mural is expected to stretch more than a mile in Tijuana and shorter spans in Tecate, Mexicali, Ciudad Juarez, Naco and Reynosa. The goal is to set the Guinness World Record for the longest mural and create an artistic riposte to Trump ’s nationalist and anti-immigrant politics. Related: Ai Weiwei installs huge fences in New York City to challenge Trump’s border control measures The artist himself crossed the border with his mother when he was eight and lived in LA for a year without a legal status. After moving to Tijuana about ten years Chiu joined the city’s burgeoning artistic scene. He dedicates this project “to all those people who are looking for a better life. Who take enormous risks. Or those have been deported and are separated from their families.” + Enrique Chiu

Comments Off on This solar-powered cabin is a dreamy green getaway in the Colorado Mountains

Perched on a rocky cliff at 10,000 feet, this pair of solar-powered cabins offer unique views of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Collegiate Peaks, and the South Platte River. Renée del Gaudio Architecture designed Big Cabin | Little Cabin to capture the essence of traditional cabin vernacular with a modern twist. The site is bordered to the north by a thick forest that provides the cabins with a sense of privacy and protection. Gabled roofs and rustic materials echo the area’s vernacular architecture, while the exterior cedar siding helps the cabins blend into their wooded surroundings. A similar material palette dominates the open-plan interior of the project, with plywood interior walls and ceilings lending a rustic quality. Related: 7 new micro-cabins in Colorado provide superior insulation in extreme weather High-efficiency electric appliances and LED lighting keep energy consumption to a minimum, while closed and open cell foam insulation, double and triple pane windows with low-e glass , and rolling barn door shutters keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The project also features a 96% efficient boiler, radiant floor tubing set in a concrete slab, and a high efficiency wood-burning stove . The project is wired for a 3kw photovoltaic array , which is expected to fully meet the cabins’ energy needs. + Renée del Gaudio Architecture Via Dwell Photos by David Lauer

Although the majority of her works are similar in nature, each piece has its own personality—just like the real coral reefs living beneath the waves. The Connecticut-based artist spends hours and hours on each time-consuming paper artwork , as each individual component is cut and rolled by hand from mulberry paper. Her pieces range in size, but most have at least one measurement spanning several feet. Each intricate paper mural is inspired by the shapes of nature, and not just coral reefs . Genser also draws inspiration from beehives, and the organic forms of plants, rock formations, barnacles, and seaweed. Related: Amy Genser recreates the beauty of underwater reefs in paper Since we last featured her work, Genser was commissioned to create a custom 150-foot mural for the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware , which adds an oceanic touch to the cafeteria. Her paper murals were also on display earlier this summer in London at the Affordable Art Fair . Some of her other works are currently on display at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City through Aug. 17. Via Colossal Images via Amy Genser